ICE Arrests Student While Claiming Not to Be Conducting Raids

Statement by Michelle Brané, Director of the Migrant Rights and Justice Program

Apprehending a high school student while his parents looked on, unable to help, for the purpose of sending him back to the murderous criminal gangs he fled, is beyond any reasonable comprehension. And yet, Spanish language media is reporting that Wildin David Guillen Acosta, a Honduran refugee, was arrested by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on his way to school yesterday. Wildin came to the U.S. seeking asylum in the summer of 2014 and is living with his parents. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson just this week explicitly stated that ICE is not conducting raids.

The Administration must stop treating the arrival of refugees from Central American as a border enforcement problem. It is not illegal to cross borders and ask for protection and these children are refugees, in fear for their lives from some of the worst violence in the world.